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Friday, August 18, 2017

Bali is an amazing destination but one thing frustrates me a lot; traffic jams and they are common given how narrow the roads are at some parts of the island. Add in the hordes of domestic and international visitors and it's not hard to imagine why i eventually missed my flight!

Anyway, we took more about 90 minutes from Tegenungan Waterfall to arrive at the Kintamani region where we could have buffet lunch and supposedly a great view of a famous volcano in Bali. Before you could even venture beyond, there's an entrance fee of 30,000 rupiahs per person.

Here's our lunch venue in the highlands; Restaurant Panca Yoga!

The long line of vehicles right outside the dining establishment; we visited on a Thursday so there should be a reduced vehicle count although we failed to realise it's apparently still Indonesia and Australia's school holidays.

As it's just a long stretch of road and we were somewhere near the "ticket" station, there wasn't many commercial entities. Okay. i admit i didn't explore further as it was already over 2pm and i was dying for lunch!

Door gods with golden toothy grin.

I was thinking on the flow for this post; food first and then scenery or food, scenery, food, scenery or scenery followed by food. After much thought, i think i am more comfortable with the first option.

Nothing much i can comment on the decor which was Balinese style although i drew similarity with Indian restaurants. You know what irked me? Flies!!

Sadly for the operator, Singaporeans and Singapore residents who have stayed in the little red dot for a long period of time are averse to flies and associate their appearance with a lack of hygiene.

Frankly, i was too hungry to bother about it even though it was still irritating to have them flying all around me in the enclosed section. I eventually found an alfresco space outside which was better for two more reasons; a closer view of the volcano and lake and it's way cooler!

The outdoors as taken from indoors!

Despite the flies, i was generally happy with the food. The satay was a great favourite but food selection wasn't wide given that we paid 153,000 rupiahs per person for this buffet lunch.

As usual, i took a bit of everything to sample before deciding what i should have for my second and third round. Think my stomach was in severe need for food as it had sent a signal to my brain for more carbohydrates!

What i took again and again and again; satay and spring rolls!

Now on the cooler outdoors which were devoid of the buzzing flies! Nothing's perfect though - it's a smoking area but i am not the kind to feel suffocated when i smell cigarette fumes.

Our next door neighbour; top floors looked fine while bottom floors seemed to be empty / undergoing renovation. As you can see, the structure was fused to the hillside and i often wonder how safe such buildings would be given the possibility of earthquakes in Bali; last of which was in March this year.

Building where we were at had these metal poles sticking out from the sides. Not an assuring sight for Singaporeans who are attuned to the word "safety".

This was the sight that greeted us; enveloped in a sea of clouds, we couldn't see a darn thing! As i mentioned previously, hunger took precedence and we can forgive the low visibility so long our tummy was filled.

Situation improved after a while yet not to the standard we had expected. We had more or less managed our expectations since weather forecast wasn't to our advantage that day.

Nevertheless, we should always hope, even if the possibility is not high.

Guess our prayers were answered as the clouds appeared to have lifted by the time we were about to be done with our meal.

Not perfect but better not seeing much! At least i can catch a glimpse of mount batur (last erupted in year 2000) and the lake of the same name!

It wasn't incredibly impressive at 1,717 meters and since it's an active volcano, there wasn't many trees on the mountain slopes too.

I did note the widespread black landmass surrounding the volcano. No prize for guessing what it was since most of us would have assumed it's lava. The lava field was a result of the 1968 eruption!

Batur Lake - a freshwater lake said to be polluted due to the agricultural activities. From where i stood, it looked peaceful and serene.

Where i sat wasn't a good photo spot for those who were seated inside as our tables and chairs would have blocked your access; fret not, there's a balcony by the side where you take dozens of selfies at ease.

Yes, i did take a lot of selfies but as usual, i don't normally publish them in this blog. There's a better chance of seeing Alex than i in this blog. Hahah.

Skies cleared up a lot more when we were about to leave! Pity the omen was short-lived as it started raining in our next stop!